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TalkBack / Why Switch 2 Was Largely Absent At The Summer Game Fest
« on: Yesterday at 10:25:22 AM »A tale as old as 2007.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/editorial/71385/why-switch-2-was-largely-absent-at-the-summer-game-fest
On the surface, the announcement of Switch 2 becoming the fastest selling console in the history of video games at a 3.5m+ clip during opening weekend makes the extreme paucity of Switch 2 announcements last week even less logical. As far as new game announcements, we had:
- Final Fantasy Tactics remaster and Mortal Kombat Kollection at Sony (both Switch 1 as well)
- Sonic Racing: Cross Worlds (delayed from Switch 1 release) as well as new characters for Marvel Cosmic Invasion (also Switch 1) and updates for Hitman: World of Assassination and Street Fighter VI at the SGF kickoff
- Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar trailer at Wholesome Games (also Switch 1)
- Call of the Elder Gods (hey, no Switch 1 release) and Constance (both Switch 1 and 2) at Future Games
- A demo for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3-4 that might be tied to preordering? (also Switch 1)
- Not being able to swing a dead Blofeld without hitting 007: First Light
That's five new Switch 2 games and updates for five more. Meanwhile, there's roughly 45 new Switch games. But frankly, we should have expected that for multiple reasons.
There's 152 Million Switch 1s In The Wild
The only comparable system transition to Switch 1 -> 2 is PlayStation 2 -> 3, and PS2 was getting relevant original releases - or at least localizations - as late as 2010. Meanwhile, the PS3 launched for 599 US dollars in November of 2006. PS2 got what would be considered a AAA game exclusively after the PS3 launched in God of War 2, and Persona 4's North American release was December 2008 (a game some considered the best game on PS2). The PS2 had a userbase that couldn't be ignored, and the intended replacement was a dramatic price increase from it - even more than Switch 1 to 2 since this was before price drops became a sign of desperation.
Even Nintendo has gotten in on this by maintaining Switch 1 versions for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokemon Legends: Zut Alors later this year. We don't even know if Rhythm Heaven Groove and Tomodachi Life will have Switch 2 upgrade options or not. So if you can get the game to run on Switch 1, wouldn't you take that shot? Especially when you don't have to design with as much graphical fidelity?
A Flood Of Switch 2 Devkits Hasn't Happened Yet Or Just Happened
Right now, the Switch 2 games announced are largely from companies who would actually have to make the call on whether or not to use a Game Key Card for a potential retail release. A lot of the major third parties got them, and there's a certain size of smaller studio that has stuff released or announced. Think Toby Fox for Deltarune, Tribute for Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Shin'en for Fast Fusion. Who was in the showcase, especially on Saturday in the presentation tsunami? Smaller teams and solo developers. (And I mean actual small teams and solo devs, not "a few devs and their friends and 'oh we outsourced the big stuff'" a la Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Sounds like a great game, but in no way should it be seen as a "small team" project.)
I still need to check Switch 1's eShop weekly when doing the Downloads because it appears that if a game is having issues playing on Switch 2, it simply won't be listed on the Switch 2 eShop. And it's going to take multiple consecutive months of not getting a hit in that search before I'd be confident that enough developers are able to test their Switch 1 projects on the 2 even if they're not planning a bespoke version. And hopefully Nintendo is a little tighter with devkits to ensure there's a mass reduction of the Switch 2's slop quotient.
Alternatively, Nintendo has opened the floodgates already; I don't have first-hand knowledge. (Hey, if you know, sound off in Talkback or hit us up on Discord.) But realistically, that would have happened at some point this year either in January at the hardware reveal or April after the full unveiling. Two to five months is not enough time to present anything in modern video games unless you want to end up in a Shin Megami Tensei V situation (revealed on Switchmas I, launched nearly five years later).
Switch 2 Announcements Will Come Directly
In Microsoft's June 12 2022 Xbox Showcase, it was announced that the modern trilogy of Persona games (3 Portable, 4 Golden, 5 Royal) were coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series along with 3P and 5R coming to PC following the release of 4G in 2020. There were multiple rumors that Switch was going to get those releases, but there was nothing... until the Partner Showcase on the 28th of June which announced that the trio was coming to Switch 1 as well. Am I assuming the same thing will happen with Persona 4 Revival that was announced this past Sunday? Not really (it's PS5/Xbox Series/PC only currently), but if that comes to Switch 2 I won't be surprised. I'll just hope they don't replace Yuri Lowenthal's voice because they're removing Yosuke from the game entirely.
Nintendo does like to have exclusivity of announcements for their systems specifically, especially if it's going to be part of a Direct. There's been a Nintendo Direct of some kind for the last four Junes, and this is generally the time when Nintendo would commit to their full slate of release dates for the rest of the year. It's not guaranteed we get one (before the Switch 2 reveal we hadn't gotten a Direct that early in April since 2015), but I have a week off work the 23rd to 27th and fully expect to be on Direct duty one of those days. Nintendo loves timing these things to my vacations, after all. And when we got the Splatoon Raiders announcement, it was about a minute of a 5:32 video: that sounds like a teaser for a longer presentation.
Three other factors to consider:
- With Super Mario World (the movie) next year, are Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza going to be the main games that they push alongside it or could there still be an original Mario platformer?
- Doesn't it seem like the only person who wanted to work with Doritos Pope Geoff I was Reggie Fils-Amie who left six years ago? Nintendo has never really presented in the SGF window anyway (their 2021 Direct was tied to the infamous "all digital E3") and they've tamped down their appearances at the Winter Game Fest* since Joker in Smash.
- The Microsoft releases that have come to Switch 1 - Grounded, Pentiment, the Rare licensed stuff - has always been announced by Nintendo. It might make sense to have the Halo Master Chief Collection or Gears of War on Switch 2, and Nintendo platforms have a legal commitment to get something Call of Duty, but again - Nintendo would get to trumpet that.
There were 24 games (and five upgrade kits) on day 1 of Switch 2. Owners already have plenty of options, with more coming starting next week. Please don't start crying "dead platform" because you didn't see gratuitous 2s last weekend; those announcements will come in due time, and there's already a market of 3.5m+ to address.
